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Master of Lake-town
The Master of Lake-town was a wealthy business magnate and politician and for long years successful Master of Lake-town. Biography Born in TA 2890, Calamar earned the title in becoming the leader of Lake-town. In times of hardships and decline, Calamar kept up bonds with the Elves of the Woodland Realm, and the Dwarves of the Iron Hills and eluded the perils of the minions of the Necromancer of Dol Guldur and foraging Easterlings. Calamar however, was known to be a greedy and corrupt public official whose primary concern rested with his own power and position and cared nothing of Lake-town’s destitute state, instead turned his attention to the acquisition of tolls and taxes. In TA 2941, when the growing civil unrest that concerned his leadership, and threatened for an election, the Master used a network of informants throughout the city to spy on Bard, as he was jealous of the bargeman and was suspicious that he was responsible for the growing threat to his authority. When Thorin and Company arrived at the town and persuaded him to welcome them and help them reclaim the Lonely Mountain, the Master agreed to help not only to restore his ailing popularity, but also as a way of increasing his own wealth. After successfully arresting Bard under fabricated charges, the dragon Smaug attacked Lake-town. Calamar tried to escape on a boat with all of the town's gold as an act of cowardice along with his servant Alfrid Lickspittle, the captain of the guards Braga, and a few guards, but when Smaug was killed by the Black Arrow shot by Bard, his boat, himself, and everyone on (except Alfrid) were crushed to death under the weight of the dragon's dead body. Behind the scenes *Calamar Moneybags was portrayed by Stephen Fry in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Battle of the Five Armies. *In the book, Calamar was less antagonistic than he was in the trilogy and survived Smaug's attack in the town. In the story, when the Dwarves arrived in Lake-town, the Master greeted them generously, but only to keep public spirits up. After the destruction of the town and the death of Smaug by Bard, the townspeople denounced the Master as a coward and called for Bard's ascension as King. Calamar, who was an adroit politician, shifted blame for Lake-town's destruction to Thorin and the Dwarves, who had roused the dragon in the first place which succeeded in turning the townspeople's ire towards the Dwarves. Bard took the lead in rebuilding the remains of the town and gathering supplies for the coming winter, but was careful to act in the Master's name, so as not to usurp the latter's authority. After the Battle of Five Armies, Bard became King of Dale, but gave a generous portion of his share of the Lonely Mountain's treasure (received from Dáin II Ironfoot) to the Master, for the re-building of Lake-town. Unfortunately, the Master succumbed to greed and fled the town with most of the gold, and later died of starvation in the wastes, after being deserted by his companions. He was therefore described as weak, because he was easily overcome by the lust of the treasure Smaug held, and by the dragon-spell. *Calamar's disgusting dinner manners were tied with Denethor II's gluttonous dinner habits in The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. *According to Stephen Fry, the scene where his character ate his dinner was one of the most unpleasant shots he had to do. Appearances *''The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug'' (First appearance) *''The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies'' *''LEGO The Hobbit: The Video Game'' Sources * The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: Chronicles: Art & Design * The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: Chronicles: Cloaks & Daggers * The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: Official Movie Guide * The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: Visual Companion * The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies: Visual Companion Category:Characters Category:Deceased Category:Destruction of Esgaroth participants Category:Humans Category:Killed by Smaug Category:Males Category:Northrons Category:Residents of Esgaroth Category:Villains